Tag: Kim Jong-un

That is what some Korea analysts now believe after she received a new title as “Morning Star General”:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, seated right, and his daughter Ju-ae, seated left, visit North Korea’s Air Force Command on Nov. 30. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un referred to his daughter as “Morning Star General,” just days after the North’s reconnaissance satellite, Malligyong-1, successfully entered orbit on Nov. 21.

The young girl, known as Ju-ae, was previously referred to by North Korea’s state-controlled media as “dear child” or “respected child.”

The dramatic change in the way she is addressed has fueled speculation on whether the new title could be interpreted as a confirmation of her status as the North’s heir apparent.

Cheong Seong-chang, a research fellow at Sejong Institute, took the title change seriously, arguing that it is an important move related to leadership succession.

“I think it’s definitely associated with the fourth-generation leadership succession,” he told The Korea Times. “Kim made it clear that his daughter will succeed him by referring to her as ‘Morning Star General.'”

In North Korea, the term “morning star” has been used figuratively to refer to a leader in waiting.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Bloomberg News takes a crack at explaining why Kim Jong-un’s daughter has been used to heavily in state propaganda over the past year:

The role of Kim’s daughter in state propaganda appears to be showing the public there is another generation waiting to run the family dynasty forged in the Cold War and it will rely on nuclear weapons for its survival. She humanizes Kim as a father, with the possible intent of conveying a message to North Korean parents that supporting an arms program means protecting their children from a U.S. invasion and a loss of the “unique” socialist state forged by the Kim family.

“The preservation of the Kim family rule is, of course, inextricably tied to the country’s weapons program,” said Soo Kim, a former Korea analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, who now works at U.S.-based management consulting firm LMI. 

She added while the intent may be to soften the image of Kim Jong Un, that could be a hard sell. “The North Korean people are still starving and living under Draconian repression – missiles or not. And unless Kim takes dramatic steps to improve the living conditions of his people and give them true freedom, their perceptions of Kim are unlikely to change fundamentally.”

But that has not stopped North Korea from using the daughter for political purposes. She has appeared 16 times in public over the past year — with 13 of the events related to the military, two for sports and one for the economy, according to information from the South Korean government.

Bloomberg

You can read more at the link.

Kim Jong-un is going on a long train ride through the Russian Far East. It does make me wonder when he is gone this long how does he maintain secure communications with his underlings back in Pyongyang? May he has a Starlink terminal on his train. 😉

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (rear) boards his special train after holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Sept. 13, 2023, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Kim invited Putin to visit his country.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s special train appears to be moving toward Russia’s Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk on Thursday, a day after his rare summit with President Vladimir Putin, according to sources. 

According to the sources, Kim’s olive green, bullet-proof train appears headed toward the Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he will visit an aircraft factory, following his meeting with Putin held Wednesday at the Vostochny spaceport where he pledged full support for Russia.

Putin earlier told a Russian media outlet that Kim will fly to Komsomolsk-on-Amur to visit an aircraft plant and travel to Vladivostok to view Russia’s Pacific Fleet after the summit.

But Kim appears to have taken his train to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, some 1,170 kilometers east of the space center.

Kim is expected to arrive in the Russian city late Thursday and stop by an aircraft plant that manufactures Sukhoi fighter jets the following day, according to the sources.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The fact that Kim Jong-un is traveling to Vladivostok to meet with Putin means the arms deal is done and North Korean artillery shells should start being delivered to Russian units in Ukraine soon:

Police and military personnel are spotted at a platform of Vladivostok rail station in the far eastern Russian city on Sept. 11, 2023. (Yonhap)

Security measures appeared to have been strengthened at the rail station in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok on Monday amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit Russia this week for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

As of 5:40 p.m., a large number of police personnel were spotted inside Vladivostok station, unlike the previous day. A South Korean government official told Yonhap News Agency earlier in the day that a special train presumed to be carrying Kim appeared to be traveling to Vladivostok.

Soldiers with service dogs, men in black suits, as well as a black car surrounded by police officials entering the platform were also seen at the station, although it was unclear whether the vehicle was related to Kim’s possible visit.

The New York Times reported last week that Kim plans to travel to Vladivostok, possibly by armored train this month, for talks with Putin to discuss the North’s potential supply of its artillery shells and other weaponry for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Its August which means provocation time from North Korea due to the annual joint exercise between the U.S. and the ROK:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for a “drastic boost” of the country’s missile production capacity, the North’s state media said Monday, as South Korea and the United States plan to stage joint military drills later this month.

Kim made the remarks during a two-day visit to major factories that produce strategic missiles, rocket launchers and other military weapons on Friday and Saturday, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The visit came less than a week after the North Korean leader conducted a “field guidance” of major munitions factories as South Korea and the United States plan to hold their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise later this month, which Pyongyang has denounced as a rehearsal for an invasion of the North.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.